Elected school board question blocked from ballot

Three less controversial amendments will take its place in March primary

December 10, 2013|By Hal Dardick, Chicago Tribune reporter

(Tribune illustration)

Mayor Rahm Emanuel will be spared the potential political embarrassment of finding out whether Chicagoans would prefer an elected school board rather than an appointed one after aldermanic allies moved Monday to fill the March primary ballot with questions on taxi fares and gun control.

There's room for three referendum questions per a state law meant to prevent overloading the ballot. But the provision also has become a tool that allows council members friendly to the mayor to block efforts viewed as anti-administration.

The council's Finance Committee loaded up the March 18 ballot with advisory questions that won't have the force of law. Voters would be asked if they want to pay higher taxi fares, ban high-capacity ammunition magazines and ban the carrying of firearms in all businesses that serve alcohol under the state's new concealed carry law.

It's unlikely voters will endorse cab fare hikes, even if drivers present a compelling case that they are underpaid relative to cabbies in other cities. Chicago residents tend to favor gun control, so the gun questions would seem likely to pass. In fact, the council already has approved a measure that allows for the revocation of any liquor license if the proprietor allows guns on the premises under the state's new concealed carry act.

Backers of an elected Chicago Public Schools board, including Ald. John Arena, 45th, say the troika of referendums is being deployed as a blocking technique, and even some who don't back the schools effort privately concede that point. But Ald. Edward Burke, 14th, who proposed the "booze and bullets" referendum, said that's not the case.

"The motive is to let the voters speak about guns and booze, about magazines that are used in firearms that can have especially great capacity" and on taxi rates, said Burke, the Finance Committee chairman.

Burke said his proposal is designed to help persuade the General Assembly to modify the state's concealed carry law. "I think that an affirmative vote by the voters will demonstrate to the legislature that the people of Chicago strongly believe that booze and bullets don't mix," Burke said.

A school board question also would be advisory, but a strong vote in favor of electing the Chicago Board of Education could be viewed as a sign of dissatisfaction with the district, where teachers last year went out on strike for the first time in decades and controversial decisions to close schools have been made under Emanuel. The district is facing major financial problems centered on escalating pension costs.

Support for an elected school board also would weaken Emanuel's case against taking away his appointment power. The mayor has consistently spoken against an elected school board, contending it would inject too much politics into education decisions.

A change to an elected school board would have to come from the Capitol, where Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn and his running mate, former CPS CEO Paul Vallas, support it.

Aldermen who back an elected school board proposed a referendum on the question three months ago, but it's been bottled up in the Rules Committee controlled by Ald. Michelle Harris, 8th. An attempt to force it out of committee was blocked on the council floor by Emanuel allies last month.

Two years ago, proponents of the question thought they had an ally in Ald. Joe Moore, 49th, who then was chairman of the Human Relations Committee. But Moore did not allow committee debate on the issue, saying his colleagues had submitted the paperwork three minutes too late.